<p>@ heartburner --</p>
<p>All other things bring equal, I would say yes but please don’t look to me as an authority. </p>
<p>Sadly, the number of American families who can afford full pay continues to shrink as tuitions rise. If I told you how little my family had to full pay for me to attend my school, you would choke. It was long ago and far away, but still. </p>
<p>This is a complex subject of course and not all about FP vs. FA. If it were, entire school populations could come from X’ian or Seoul on their own. There are and must be limits to how many applicants from each foreign country can be absorbed into a school population before said school begins to part ways with its own identity. The more inclusive the schools get, the harder it must be for the AOs to find the right mix. Does a Chinese American kid get preference over a Chinese kid? I certainly hope so but that’s a subject for someone with more inside knowledge than I can offer. I do know that these are American boarding schools and one of their main attractions is that they are American. That American-ness is hugely appealing to many foreign families and essential for continued support from the (largely domestic) alumni/ae. That said, these schools are huge complex enterprises. Their endowments can’t be spent down and there are many demands on available funds, scholarships being but part of those demands (infrastructure, expansion, employee benefits, unexpected overhead and debt service being major matters among others). Therefore applicants who do not need financial aid - all other aspects being equal - have a decided advantage and amongst those, domestic applicants trump internationals, per above. </p>
<p>I could have whacked out everything but the first sentence, saved you some time and trouble.</p>